Apparatus for develop



(No Model.)

- E. P. MAOKUSIOK.

APPARATUS FOR DEVELOPING, &c., PHOTOGRAPHS. No. 525,849.

O p w m\ Patented Sept. 11, 1894.

I F I I I I Q l l I l l X I I I I I I I l I l I 1 1 l l l l l ll UNITESTATES PAT NT OFFICE.

- ELMER 1 MAcKUsIoK, OF NEw YQRK,"N. 1%., ASSIGNOR TO THE FALK AUTOMATICPHOTO. COMPANY, on SAME PLACE.

APPARATUSFOR DEVELOPIN c, 860., PHOTOGRAPHS. I

S'PEOIFICATION forming part t Letters Patent No. 525,849, datedSepteniber 11, 1894.

To all whom it may concern.-

lie it known that I, ELMER F. MACKUSICK, a OltlZGH of the United States,residing in the city, county,'and State of New York, have i iventedanImprovement in Apparatus for Developing, Toning, which the following isa specification.

various chemical Solutions for the purpose of developing, fixing andtoning the pictures. These operations have required cons derablehandling'of the paperin conducting the same over its entire course andhave consequently been unreliable, and the being 1n a wet condition, thesame is e torn and the Web broken or otherwise injured by the handlingor by unequal tension, and the pictures were lnJlII'Gd or overtimed bythe delay.

e presentimprovement is made with reference to conveying the advancingend of the paper automatically through the various tanks containing thechemical solutions and applying at every turn of the paper in its strainupon With this object in the picture surface or the back surface, sothat these surfaces are left free for Application filed March 16,1894.Serial No, 503,880. (No man) or water as required will have shown a wetcondition is passe the surfaces may be Washed unobstructedly betweenonechemical action and another.

In the drawings, Figure l is a plan view. Fig. 2 is an elevationpartially in section. Fig. 3 is a cross section of the apparatus. Fig. 4is an elevationin larger size at one end of one of the'upper rollers.'Fig. 5 is a detached'view of the cross-bar at one end and a section .ofone band. Fig. 6 is a section of one of the lower roller s,'and Fig. 7is a plan, sectional, at one end, of one of the lo'werrollers' Thenumber of tanks or vessels made use of for holding the differentchemical solutions vary according to the nature, of thework to be done,and the chemical solutions in such tanks are prepared and applied withreference touthe developsired manner. I have shown for example ten tanksmarked respectivelyA B O D E F GH I and J, but the tanks may be more orless numerous and may be either larger or smaller according to thesolutions or liquids which they are to contain'a'nd according towhethert e paper is to be immersed once or more often in a givensolution; and these tanks ma'y'be of anysuitable sired size and shape. Ilong near the upper edges of the tanks in the .range of 'tanks there arebearers or beams 'K suitably afiiixed to the tanks and receiving ment ofthe pictures in any well known or de-- materialand-of the detheadjustable two-part journal boxes or bearings 7 8 for the rollers thatextend across the tanks from one bearer K to the other, and upon theouter ends of the shafts or'arbors of the rolls there are gear wheels 0that are driven by screw pinions N upon the lo'ngi tudinal shaft L whichis supported by suitable bearing or journal boxes upon the side ofone ofthe bearers K below such wheels O,

pinions and wheels are to be and the screw of'uniform size so that allthe rolls are driven at the same speed, and any suitable power is"applied. to the shaft L to rotate the same. I

a pulleyat L adapted to the reception of a driving belt.

I have found that when a strip of paper .in d over a smooth cylindricalroller, bubbles of air are-often confined between theroll and the paper,and in so doing the paper'is liable to' become wrinkled V or injured. Toavoidthis difficulty I make use of rollers Q that are groovedlongitudinally in order that the air of the bubbles that may intervenebetween the paper and the roll may escape through the longitudinalchannels or grooves and pass off at the ends of such grooves, and l findit advantageous to employ at intervals rollers R that are provided withdivergent helical grooves that act by the rotation of the roller to aidin spreading the paper transversely and lessening the risk that mightotherwise exist of longitudinal folds in the paper, and in portions ofthe apparatusI find it advantageous togroove the rollers with peripheralgrooves, as shown at R, and the paper from the roller 6 passes over thefirst roller P which is plain and beneath the presser roller U which ispreferably of rubber, so that the paper passes through between theserollers with regularity as it is drawn off the roll.

It is to be understood that the paper for the roll is first preparedwith proper chemicals and then exposed under negatives to the action oflight in another apparatus and contains the latent picture to bedeveloped, and the paper is rolled up ready to be developed, fixed andtoned in the apparatus herein described within a dark room, as it isnecessary to avoid white light until after the pictures have, passedthrough the fixing solutions- I make use of two endless belts, pref-verably made of rubber, each containing one or more metallic wires ornarrow strips, so as to render suchbelt inelastic without interferingmaterially with its flexibility, and in all of the rollers made use of,near their ends, are, narrow peripheral grooves adapted to the receptionof the belts, and these. belts pass over the rollers that are at the topof the tanks and under rollers T that are located near'the bottoms ofthe respective tanks.

These rollers T are each upon an arbor or axis received at its ends intothe slots of vertical channel bars 4: that-are placed against the innersurfaces of the tanks at opposite sides, and these tank rollers are keptdown at the proper places either-by their own weight or by rods or barsintroduced into the chan nel of the bars over the arborsof the rollersand secured in placeif necessary, and each of these rollers T is made ofglass, metal, rubber, celluloid, or other suitable material which willnot contaminate the solutions into which they maybe submerged. Pulleysupon the arbor near each end and adjacent to the chan-' nel bars areprovided, such pulleys being grooved for the reception of the bands ofrubber 9 before mentioned, so that these endless bands pass over therollers above the tanksg and descend below the submerged rollers,- as

indicated in Fig.2, and after passing the entire series the bands returneither above or below 'thetanks to the entrance end. It is now to beunderstood thatin applying this apparatus, one end of thephotographictrip is connected by a cross-bar l0 .to-th e en less bands 9, and saidcross-bar and the bands carry the strip of paper through the respectivesolutions with regularity and with but little strain upon the paperbecause the bands and the paper are moved along with regularity anduniformity by the rollers that are over the tanks, and such paper isonly subjected to the strain necessary for drawing the same through thesolution between one of the upper rollers and the next,and the air thatmay be confined in the form of bubbles between the wet paper and therollers, escapes freely through the grooves or channels of the rollersso as not to interfere with the paper as it rests upon the surfaces ofsuch rollers.

Some of the tanks are larger than others for the reception of more thanone tank roller TV 1 have shown two rollers T in the tanks A E H and Jand three rollers T in the tanks F and G, and in some instances it isadvisable to apply a tank roller T at the upper part of the tank andbelow the surface of the solution, so that the paper remains immersedthe proper length oftime within one solution.

It is necessary in some instances. to freely wash the paper between oneimmersion and another in the chemical solutions, and. with this objectin view-a water pipe V is provided with branches V V and cooks forregulating the volume of water, and these branches V5 V I areperforated, and the paper of the roll hangs down as a loop below therespective branches of the pipes and is kept in position by the Weightof a distending roll W, so that the sprays of water abundantly wash thepicture surfaces of the photographicpaper before onterin'g anothersolution or before drying such paper. I have shown the paper-asdistended by the rolls W between the tanks B and C, G and H, and-abranch V perforated to spray the Water upon the surface of the roll ofpaper is provided for washing the paper after it leaves the last tank J,and such paper may then be received upon a canvas web 'Y to be taken toa suitable drying chamber; and it is advantageous to employ a sqn eegeeor scraper Z having arubber or other soft edge toremove the surpluswater from thepaper before it passes tothe drying chamber.

1 vusually provide below the tanks a gutter M, preferably lead-lined,and inclined toward the middle, into which the water passes frombetweenv the tanks in the respective washing operations, and it is alsoadvantageous to employ stoppers 11' in the bottoms of the respectivetanks, so that the contents of the tanks can be run ofi when desired.

I claim as my invention- 1. In an apparatus for developing, fixing andtoning photographs, a series of tanks for containing the chemicalsolutions, a series of rollers crossing thetop edges of the tanks,mechanism for rotating the rollers at a. uniform surface speed,.tankrollers in the'lower parts of the respective tanks, an endless beltcomposed of two inelastic bands passing over the upper rollersandbelow-the tank rollers adjacent to the respective ends, and means forupper ends of the tanks and mechanism for connecting the strip ofphotographic paper rotating the rollers ata uniform surface speed,

4-!- The combination in an apparatus for detanks, substantially as setforth. D g, fixing and toning photographs, of 5. The combination in anapparatus for dea range of tanks for holding the chemical soveloping,fixing and toning photographs, of

15 ers for. the photographic paper, and endless an endless belt passingover the rollers and eX- elts composed of strips of rubber incasingtending down into the respective tanks and metallic wires for carryingthe web of phobetween one tank and another, such belt being g phio paperthrough the respective solu composed of two inelastic bands at theendstions, substantially as set forth. of the respective rollers so as tocome at the 20 3. u an apparatus for developing, fixing edges of thephotographic paper, and means and toning photographs, aseries of tanksfor for connecting the end of the photographlc containing the chemicalsolutions, a series of paper to such endless belt, and a perforatedrollers crossing the top edges of the tanks, a pipe for spraying waterupon the paper belongitudinal shaft with screw pinions and tween onetank and another, substantially as 2 5 gears on the axes of therespective rollers -for set forth.

rotating the rollers at a uniform surface speed, 6. The combination inan apparatus for detank rollers in the lower parts of therespectveloping, fixing and toning photographs,;of & ive tanks, anendless belt composed of two range of tanks for containing the chemicalinelastic bands passing over the upper rollsolutions,an inclined gutterundersuch tanks 0 ers and below the tank rollers adjacent to thestoppers in the tanks for allowing the contents 3 0 the paper andleaving both surfaces of the less belt passing over the respectiverollers substantially as set forth.

4. The combination in an apparatus for deceive the photographic paperbetween them 0 veloplng, fixing and toning photographs, of a forcarrying such paper through the respectrange of tanks for containing thechemical ive tanks, substantially as set forth.

solutions, vertically slotted channel bars con- Signed by me this 27thday of February, nected to the interior surfaces of the tanks, 1894,

tank rollers having their axes extending into .MAOKUSICK- 4 5 t echannel bars and by which thevrollers are Witnesses:

guided and held in position near the bottoms GEO. T. PINCKNEY,

of the respective tanks, rollers crossing the A. M. OLIVER.

